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☆ Fiji's former leader Bainimarama bailed after court appearance
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, March 10 (Reuters) - Fiji's former long-serving prime minister Frank Bainimarama pleaded not guilty in a Suva court on Friday after being charged with abuse of office and held in police custody overnight. Fiji's Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher Pryde approved the charges of abuse of office against Bainimarama and suspended police commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho. read moreBainimarama, who led the Pacific island nation for 16 years until narrowly losing an election in December, rejected the charge. "I served as Fiji's prime minister with integrity and with the best interest of Fijians at heart," Bainimarama said outside court, according to video taken by Fijian media outlets. Bainimarama resigned from parliament on Wednesday after being suspended last month for sedition and insulting the president.

LOS ANGELES, March 9 (Reuters) - Hot dogs for fingers, plastic googly eyes, and conversing rocks are hardly staples of mainstream movie-making. Yet, they have became cultural touchstones of "Everything Everywhere All at Once," the at-times baffling and absurdist film that has captivated Hollywood. "It is using all of this apparatus of big storytelling that we've been kind of very accustomed to," Willmore said. "Bringing that large scale to bear on this very small story, I think that is really what has swept people up," she added. Star James Hong alluded to the confusion when the movie was honored at the Screen Actors Guild awards.

☆ This startup converts carbon into chemicals used in everything from cars to furniture. Check out the 15-slide pitch deck ViridiCO2 used to raise $3.5 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

UK startup ViridiCO2 is helping chemical manufacturers cut fossil fuel use with captured carbon. A startup helping chemical manufacturers cut their use of fossil fuels has just raised £3 million (around $3.5 million) in seed funding from EQT Ventures. It is one piece of the carbon capture, storage, and utilization puzzle. ViridiCO2 doesn't capture carbon itself but works with point-source carbon capture companies to do so. "These are big chemical manufacturers and also consumer product manufacturers," Stewart added.

☆ ‘Women are the true unicorns’: This millennial investor is breaking barriers in venture capital and betting on female founders
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Goh Chiew Tong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

"One class I was taking was [about] venture capital and our professor was super well connected," she recalled. Women are the true unicorns in this venture capital world." In a venture capital industry where women make up less than 15% of check-writers, Sun stands out. Fundraising 'a moving bar'Sun decided to start her own venture capital fund when she realized that women founders' biggest pain point is "lacking capital to grow." Even so, companies founded by women are still receiving just 2.5% of all venture capital investments, according to PitchBook data.

☆ U.S. defense secretary aims to reassure Mideast allies, deliver tough message
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Idrees Ali | Thomson Reuters | National Security Correspondent Focusing On The Pentagon In Washington D.C. Reports On U.S. Military Activity | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The United States has about 30,000 troops in the region and is seen as pivotal in helping counter Iranian influence. Austin is poised to send a clear message on the need for Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to respect human rights, underscoring Washington's concern on the issue. "I fully expect him to bring up human rights, respect for fundamental freedoms," the U.S. defense official said. The United States has withheld small amounts of military aid to Cairo, citing a failure to meet human rights conditions. The United States has committed more than $32 billion in weapons to Ukraine including sophisticated air defense systems and tanks.

☆ A Simple Trick Helped Me Cut Back on Screen Time, Break My Phone Addiction
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Shubham Agarwal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

To try and break my habit, I decided to slow down my phone experience with a new app called One Sec. Plus, studies have shown that things like app limits that merely measure your screen time won't break compulsive habits. Sandy Gould, a senior computer-science lecturer at Cardiff University, has researched ways to curb our compulsive phone tendencies. Frederik Riedel, the German-based developer of the app, told me that creating better boundaries was the motivation behind the development of the app. I can attest to that figure: One Sec has nearly halved my compulsive Twitter use.

☆ The 'office apocalypse' won't doom big cities — it's actually making them stronger
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Matthew E. Kahn | Christopher Okada | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

In San Francisco, tax revenue is projected to drop by as much as a billion dollars over the next six years. In order to bring in these new residents, cities will have to shift some of their priorities. Research coauthored by Steven Levitt of "Freakonomics" found that increases in violent and property crimes were correlated with city residents migrating to the suburbs. All is not lostThere's little doubt that superstar cities like New York and San Francisco have serious problems on their hands. Christopher Okada is the CEO of Okada & Company, a full-service commercial real estate brokerage and investment company in New York City.

☆ Whales use a sound similar to Kim Kardashian's 'vocal fry' to hunt deep sea prey, say scientists
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Toothed whales can use vocal registers like humans to communicate and hunt. Like Kim Kardashian, whales have a "vocal fry" which can be used to find prey in deep sea. This gives them access to falsetto, which allows them to make their high-pitched whistles, and the chesty, vocal fry range, which is how they make echolocation. Christian B. Christensen, Aarhus UniversityAn affectation that shaped toothed whales' evolutionTeglberg and Elemans say this has very much influenced the way dolphins, orcas, and other toothed whales evolved a "Mona Lisa" fixed smile on their face. "While vocal fry may be controversial in humans and may be perceived as everything from annoying toauthoritative, it doubtlessly made toothed whales an evolutionary success story", Elemans adds.

☆ For toothed whales, sound production is all in the nose
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Researchers on Thursday offered a comprehensive explanation for sound production by toothed whales - loud clicks for echolocation, and softer burst pulses and whistles for communication. The researchers used sound-recording tags on sperm whales, false killer whales and bottlenosed dolphins to study sound production in the wild. The sounds made by toothed whales differ from the haunting "singing" by filter-feeding baleen whales. "Toothed whales don't sing like baleen whales," Madsen said. During the course of evolution, toothed whales have lost their vocal folds, but evolved an entirely new set of sound sources in the nose."

☆ How Putin's Russian goon squad used Mexican gig workers to troll an American election
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

Posting to social media sounded like an easy work-from-home gig, so he applied. This post from the Prigozhin-backed Social CMS network in Mexico referred to America as "we." He verified his account by providing chat transcripts, screenshots, contracts, and internal company documents. But just because Social CMS didn't yield an immediate, large-scale impact doesn't mean it should be ignored. "I didn't know who are you," wrote the person who is listed in the corporate directory as Prigozhin's media liaison.

☆ A top-100 Amazon seller with over $200 million in sales shares the top 6 things that set apart a successful seller from a failed one
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

He has since learned the key things that set apart those who succeed and fail on Amazon FBA. But by 2013, he had taken interest in Fulfillment by Amazon after his brother, a toy seller on the platform, surpassed $1 million in sales. One thing Needham has learned from being an Amazon seller for over a decade is that the business is far from passive. Below are six key things he says could set apart the successful Amazon seller from the ones who fail. Another successful seller Needham knows will launch a slightly different product at all three price points.

☆ Fact Check-Digitally altered video shows Biden talking about UFOs and extraterrestrials
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

White House Spokesperson Saloni Sharma told Reuters the remarks “never happened.”Reuters found no public record of Biden saying this. “While the voice cloning is quite effective, the video manipulation is quickly discernible as fake,” he told Reuters via email. Reuters previously debunked another digitally altered video of Biden (here ). A White House spokesperson told Reuters Biden did not make such remarks about flying objects. There is no evidence that he said that, and experts told Reuters that the video circulating on social media has been manipulated.

☆ Dr. Harvey Karp planned to tell the press the $1,700 Snoo was 'proven to reduce SIDS' last summer. But the FDA stamp of approval never came.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Kate Taylor | Jake Swearingen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Dr. Harvey Karp nearly announced last summer that the FDA certified that Snoo reduces SIDS. But 15 years later, the ability of the Snoo — now on the market as a $1,700 high-tech bassinet — to reduce SIDS remains unproven. Despite lofty promises from Karp and Nina Montée Karp, his wife and cofounder, experts who spoke with Insider remain skeptical. Karp said he and his wife created the Snoo to reduce parent stress and reduce SIDS. But the FDA approval never came, and the press release was never officially distributed.

China’s official count 0 2.5 million 83,150 deaths Model based on Shanghai outbreak 1.6 million deaths LOW ESTIMATE HIGH ESTIMATE Estimate using travel patterns 970,000 deaths Estimate using recent testing data 1.5 million deaths Estimate based on U.S. death rates 1.1 million deaths China’s official count 0 2.5 million 83,150 deaths Model based on Shanghai outbreak 1.6 million deaths LOW EST. But China’s official Covid death toll for the entire pandemic remains strikingly low: 83,150 people as of Feb. 9. Four separate academic teams have converged on broadly similar estimates: China’s Covid wave may have killed between a million and 1.5 million people. Why official data underrepresents China’s outbreak83,150 deaths China’s official count on Feb. 9 0 2.5M 83,150 deaths China’s official count on Feb. 9 0 2.5 millionChina has a narrow definition of what counts as a Covid-19 death. But the work was unwavering in its ultimate conclusion: Ending the “zero Covid” policy was likely to overwhelm the health care system, producing an estimated 1.6 million deaths.

☆ Maps: The devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Terrain map showing the 7.8- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes near the eastern border of Turkey and Syria. A woman stands near rubble and damage in Gaziantep, Turkey, Feb. 7, 2023. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi A section of the earthquake damaged D420 road in Demirkopru, Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas A man walks past a partially-collapsed building in Pazarcik, Turkey, Feb. 9, 2023. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem People inspect the damage as rescuers search for survivors in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 8, 2023.

☆ The millennial boss' guide to managing Gen Z, based on 5 stereotypes of the younger generation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Millennial bosses might be daunted by their new reports, but there's a lot they can learn from Gen Z. That may be why some millennial managers think of Gen Z as, erm, high maintenance. Insider spoke with management experts, career coaches, and members of Gen Z itself to reframe the narrative around how Gen Z is changing the workplace. Gen Z has no job loyaltyThe rap on Gen Z is that they're all a bunch of job-hoppers with no loyalty. Both millennials and Gen Z have done "a lot more" to destigmatize mental health challenges and normalize counseling and therapy.

☆ The criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison could put jilted FTX customers in the backseat
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The parallel criminal case against SBF, Caroline Ellison, and Gary Wang may be to blame. But they told a Delaware bankruptcy court recently that they hit a roadblock, accusing Sam Bankman-Fried and those close to him of not playing ball with them. The criminal case takes priorityEllison and Wang separately reached plea deals with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, copping to charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. But, experts told Insider, the deals require them to focus on working with prosecutors in the criminal case — even if it could be at the expense of other parties. But when both criminal and civil proceedings are ongoing, it's the criminal case that goes first in line, Snyder said.

☆ Mercedes-Benz's new self-driving tech is turning up the heat on Tesla at the worst possible time
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Its Drive Pilot feature allows drivers to not pay attention to the road in certain situations. Drive Pilot is a "really big deal," Bryant Walker-Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who specializes in autonomous vehicles, told Insider. But at one level higher, Mercedes' Drive Pilot allows a driver's attention to wander to other tasks in certain situations. There are some caveats: When Drive Pilot hits roads later in 2023, it will only work on certain freeways in Nevada and only at speeds under 40 mph. Still, Drive Pilot isn't sparking a revolution in the way people drive — or don't — just yet.

☆ Managers at my company have to give at least one bad review on their teams. How can I make sure I don't get targeted?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Stack ranking is when managers score employees' performances relative to that of their coworkers. It's not easy to fight it if your company uses stack rankings, but you can take a few actions. Forced, or stack, ranking — a system in which managers score their employees' individual performances relative to that of their coworkers — needs to die but, alas, refuses to do so. Stack ranking is still used today, including at companies like Amazon, though it's largely been found to be a terrible management practice. Why, then, do some companies persist in stack ranking?

Due to the tiny size of the capsule and the huge distances involved, authorities warn the chances of finding it are slim. Department of Fire and Emergency Services/APHow rare is it to lose a radioactive device? Radiation Services WA says radioactive substances are transported throughout Western Australia on a daily basis without any issues. A conveyor belt transports iron ore at the Gudai-Darri mine operated by the Rio Tinto in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, June 21, 2022. At that rate, the capsule could be radioactive for the next 300 years, said Deb from RMIT University.

☆ USC has an influencer group that helps students get deals with brands like DoorDash and American Eagle. Here's its 7-page pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Nhari Djan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Student organization USC Reach is here to prove that you can finish a degree while furthering your career as a content creator. President Dylan Huey was conflicted about this in 2016 when he was in high school. USC Reach pitches brands with an email template and slide deckWhen contacting brands, Reach typically cold emails companies using the following template. I am currently the President for USC Reach, USC's first and only social media club. Let me know if you have 15 minutes to chat and I'd love to get a partnership between [company] and USC Reach going.

When Mr. Nichols could not comply — and even when he managed to — the officers responded with escalating force. The review of the available footage found that officers shouted at least 71 commands during the approximately 13-minute period before they reported over the radio that Mr. Nichols was officially in custody. The orders were issued at two locations, one near Mr. Nichols’s vehicle and the other in the area he had fled to and where he would be severely beaten. Officers commanded Mr. Nichols to show his hands even as they were holding his hands. But The Times’s review shows that the officers did the exact opposite, over and over.

☆ Abuses Proliferate in Police Squads Like Memphis's Scorpion Unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

Street Crime Unit. Jon Naso/NY Daily News Archive via Getty ImagesMemphis police chief Davis also has prior experience with special street crime units. Street crime squads are popular among politicians who say only aggressive policing will reduce violent crime. In the late 1990s, the Street Crime Unit tripled in size, amid a panic over a rising number of homicides. In a city grappling with violent crime, authorities touted the Street Crime Unit as a bright spot.

☆ Fact Check-10.8 million ‘unaccounted for’ ballots in 2022 midterm in California not an indication of fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The state of California automatically sends ballots to all registered voters, who are then permitted either to vote by mail or in person. During the 2022 midterm elections in California 21.9 million ballots were sent out and 11.1 million people voted, leaving around 10.8 million ballots sent to voters who did not cast them. Posts on social media are sharing this figure alongside claims that it is indicative of election fraud. Some of the claims link to a Breitbart article that says 10.8 million midterm ballots were “unaccounted for” in California (here). All California registered voters receive ballots, and the percentage of those ballots that were cast was similar to turnout in past midterms.

☆ Tyre Nichols’ brutal beating by police shown on video
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The Nichols family legal team has likened the assault to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. Security camera footage shows three officers surrounding Nichols as he lies in the street cornered between police cars, with a fourth officer nearby. The body camera footage shows a first-person view of one of them reaching down and tying his shoe. The footage shows a number of other officers standing around after the beating. During the traffic stop, the video shows the officers were "already ramped up, at about a 10," she said.

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